Purpose
Oakmont Carnegie Library (OCL) provides equitable access to materials, technology, and services for residents of the community and Allegheny County. This policy outlines eligibility, borrowing privileges, responsibilities of cardholders, and procedures related to lost or damaged materials.
I. Obtaining a Library Card
All residents of Allegheny County are eligible for a free library card. You may use your card at Oakmont Carnegie Library or any public library located in Allegheny County.
To get your card, please present a valid form of photo identification and/or proof of your current address at the circulation desk located near the main entrance of the library. All Pennsylvania residents are eligible to receive a free library card.
Children under 18 must have a parent or guardian sign their library card application. By signing an application for a child or teen, the parent or guardian grants that minor permission to access all materials in the library, including the internet. The parent or guardian also accepts responsibility (including financial responsibility) for all materials checked out with the minor’s card.
Getting an Out-of-State Card
To get an Allegheny County library card as an out-of-state patron, you will need to go to selfreg.einetwork.net and register.
Afterwards, you will need to go to aclaoutofstatecard.org/ to pay the $60 out-of-state registration fee (which covers two years of library access), then send the payment receipt and a picture of your photo ID to acla@aclalibraries.org to verify. Afterwards, your account will be ready!
Using Your Library Card
Please bring your library card with you when borrowing. Cardholders who do not have their card at the time of check out, may be asked to show proof of identity or to be asked to verify account information such as birth date, phone number, or address to check out items.
Renewing and Replacing Library Cards
- Accounts expire every two years and must be renewed by verifying contact information– including address. Accounts for children under age 13 must be renewed by their parent/guardian. ***Note: The renewal process consists solely of an informational update in the library’s lending system. You will not be issued a new library card.
- A lost card should be reported to the Library immediately. There is no charge to replace a lost card.
- The Library should be notified of any change of address.
II. Borrowing Policy
Oakmont Carnegie Library issues cards to individuals who desire to borrow our materials or access our services. The cards are issued in good faith, and cardholders must accept and be bound by the accompanying rights and responsibilities. Oakmont reserves the right to suspend privileges if library policies outlined below are violated.
Within Allegheny County: All materials of county-wide libraries are available to all cardholders. You may check out or return materials at any Allegheny County public library.
Outside of Allegheny County: Materials requested from libraries outside Allegheny County must be borrowed through the Inter-library Loan process. Items returned to libraries outside the county borders may take longer to be received by the owning library. It is recommended that you ask about the return policy for those libraries to ensure that you are not incorrectly charged overdue fines by owning libraries.
Loan periods
All library materials may be borrowed for 21 days unless specified otherwise.
Items with a 7-day borrowing period include, but are not limited to: Cricut machines, sewing machines, ghost hunting equipment, ukelele, American Girl dolls, and Switch games.
Item Limits
There is no limit to the number of Oakmont Carnegie Library materials that may be borrowed on a single library card; however, electronic resources may be subject to separate borrowing, hold, and renewal limitations.
Renewing Items
Most items may be renewed six times unless they have been reserved by another patron. Items which are not renewable include, but are not limited to: Cricut machines, sewing machines, ukuleles, ghosting hunting equipment, American Girl dolls, hotspots, adult bestsellers, and videogames. Interlibrary loans (ILLs) may only be renewed one time.
Renewals happen automatically for eligible items! Checked-out items will be automatically renewed 1-3 days before their due dates as long as there are no holds on them and as long as the items have not reached their renewal limits. Please note that not all items will be automatically renewed; patrons are responsible for keeping track of due dates. Patrons with an email address attached to their library accounts will receive the following courtesy notice 1-3 days before their items are due: “This is a friendly reminder to let you know that the following items are due soon. Some of your items may have been automatically renewed for you. Please log in to your account to check the new due dates for these items and to check the status of any items that were unable to be renewed. Login to your account at https://acl.bibliocommons.com/.”
These emails may include information about which items were or were not renewed and information about due dates. Patrons are responsible for returning their items by the due dates.
Patrons who do not have an email address attached to their library account and who have opted to receive telephone notifications will receive calls only when they have overdue items.
Patrons also can opt-in to text notifications. Visit this page for more information.
Placing a Hold or Reserving an Item
You can place a hold 3 different ways:
- Use the online catalog to search for the item and click on Place hold.
- Speak with a library staff member in person or by phone.
- Through the Allegheny Libraries app.
Overdue Items
Effective October 2021, Oakmont Carnegie Library no longer charges overdue fines for items returned after their due date. Items borrowed from outside Allegheny County may be subject to overdue fines.
Damaged Items
Patrons are responsible for the care of library materials in their possession. Items deemed damaged beyond repair will be billed to the patron’s card as a replacement charge. Oakmont Carnegie Library only handles charges that pertain to our owning Library. If an item belongs to a different library, you are responsible for contacting that library to handle charges. You may also pay fees online by logging into your library card account. Fees of more than $10.00 may result in your card being blocked from use. Replacement items will be accepted if the replacement is an exact copy replacement (i.e. hardcover book cannot be replaced with a paperback) and in new condition. Determination of an acceptable replacement is at the discretion of the library.
Lost and Unreturned Materials
Library items that are lost or remain unreturned after six weeks from the due date are billed to your account. Oakmont Carnegie Library only handles charges that pertain to our owning Library. If an item belongs to a different library, you are responsible for contacting that library to handle charges. You may also pay fees online by logging into your library card account. Fees of more than $10.00 may result in your card being blocked from use. If the item is more than six weeks overdue, the account may be referred to a collection agency depending on the patron’s registering library. Replacement items will be accepted if the replacement is an exact copy replacement (i.e. hardcover book cannot be replaced with a paperback) and in new condition. Determination of an acceptable replacement is at the discretion of the library.
Refunds
No refunds will be given unless the replacement charge was made by a Library error. The borrower may keep any previously lost items that have been found once the item has been paid for.
Confidentiality
To protect your privacy and in accordance with the Pennsylvania statute and Privacy Policy, we cannot discuss your library account with any other person/s. If you wish another individual to pick up your items on hold and/or be able to use your card for borrowing, please let us know and we will list them as a proxy on your library account. The library reserves the right to ask for additional verification before allowing check outs to a patron’s account. Individuals will not have access to view the items on an account that is not their own. If you need to discuss your account by phone, you will be asked to provide your card number and verify your address and/or other information.
Approved: 07/08/2026
Note* This policy updates and replaces Overdue Materials Policy (Fine Free Library and Fraud and Abuse of Library Cards), Overdue Procedure, and Renewal of Borrowed Materials.